The Press-Telegram's precursor, the Press, was first published in 1897.[1] The Press was purchased in the early 20th century by Charles H. Prisk and William F. Prisk,[2] Charles being the owner and William the editor and publisher. Sometime after 1918[3][when?] the Press was merged with another paper, the Daily Telegram; the combined paper was first published under the name Daily Press[4] then, from 1924, the Press-Telegram.[4][5]

On September 30, 1933, the Press-Telegram published what David Dayen called "One of the more influential letters to the editor in American history": Francis Townsend's letter outlining the Townsend Plan, a proposal that sparked a national campaign which influenced the establishment of the Roosevelt administration's Social Security system.[6]

Later,[when?] the Independent (founded in 1938) was merged into the Press-Telegram, creating the Independent-Press-Telegram with the Independent being the paper's morning edition and the Press-Telegram the evening edition. The Independent was discontinued in 1981, leaving only the Press-Telegram (now published in the morning) as the paper's only edition.[5]

An online version of the paper began web publication in 1995.[1] In 2011, the paper eliminated its sports, photography, and features departments. Some of the eliminated positions were picked up by the Torrance Daily Breeze, another Los Angeles Newspaper Group paper.[8]

The paper's longtime home, the Press Telegram building at 6th Street and Pine Avenue, was sold late 2006 to real estate developers intending to convert the property into condominiums. The paper's operations were moved to the Arco Center in downtown Long Beach. The building at 6th Street and Pine Avenue in downtown Long Beach occupied nearly the entire block, and at one time encompassed the entire production of the paper, including the presses, which were formerly visible behind glass windows at street level. The paper is currently located at 727 Pine Avenue in Long Beach.